Alliance and Leicester best for current accounts

Alliance and Leicester has been named the best provider of current accounts at a prestigious awards ceremony.

Moneyfacts Awards found that Alliance and Leicester offers the best current account for credit interest and is the best option for debit interest. It is the fourth consecutive year the financial firm has won both of the awards.

Perhaps even more impressively, it is the seventh time Alliance and Leicester has won the prize for best debit interest.

Andy Bayes, head of Abbey and Alliance and Leicester current accounts, expressed the company's delight at being selected for the awards again.

He explained that the firm recently increased the credit interest on its premier direct and premier 50 current accounts to six per cent and made a similar rise on Abbey's PICR account.

Mr Bays noted that his brands have made these changes at a time when other current account providers are making decreases, which give their customers worse value on credit interest and overdraft rates.

The current account expert said that some competitors have reduced the rate of interest they pay to customers to as low as zero per cent.

Furthermore, the majority of customers - nearly nine out of ten - are now receiving less than 0.5 per cent for their money at some of the UK's largest banks, a rate Abbeys PICR doubles, Mr Bays said.

"In the current economic climate, it is even more important that people choose the best banking deals and let their money work harder for them", he added.

Often making simple changes, like switching to a current account provider offering a better interest rate, can make any belt-tightening that little bit easier, the current account expert advised.

Michelle Slade of Moneyfacts congratulated Alliance and Leicester for its success and called it a consistent contender in the current account sector.

"These awards go to prove they offer great rates of both credit and debit interest," she concluded.

Earlier this month, Alliance and Leicester launched a new bank account for business customers, which offers six per cent interest on balances of over 2,500. The account is available to firms with a turnover of more than one million and is only being offered for a limited period of time.

Alliance and Leicester's head of business banking, Ceri Henfrey, said: "In the current economic climate, it is more important than ever that business owners review all costs including their banking arrangements in order to ensure that they are operating as efficiently as possible."